No-Dig Gardening By Nancy Dattrino, EHS member, Master Gardener

It used to be years ago that gardeners dug their gardens prior to planting. It was just 'the thing to do'. Every spring the groans could be heard from all gardeners as their backs ached, post digging. Some even claimed that double-digging was the better thing to do.

However, we understand about the microbes in the soil and how they operate and where they live. Everywhere actually! A very good book titled Teaming with Microbes - the Organic Gardeners Guide to the Soil Food Web by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis explains this. This is not a new book to most gardeners, and worth another read. Copies of this book can be purchased at some book stores and through Amazon.ca

Microbes including nematodes, bacteria, fungi, etc. live in the soil in the millions as they are microscopic. They do the work for us and some live closer to the surface while others live further down.

If we dig the soil and turn it over, we mess up the various microbes and disturb their work. We can destroy them too as some are long filaments that can be broken by a spade. The image below explains this amazing, direct relationship the soil has to many living entities (Source: USDA-NRCS)

So as long as we add compost or worm castings to our gardens the microbes in the soil remain happy. I personally add compost/worm castings to the garden in the autumn before freeze-up. Then again in spring I apply to the surface and do not dig in, but allow the rain to filter it through enriching the soil. Sometimes we need to water if it's a dry spring.

The interesting thing too is that digging disturbs the soil, and weeds like to grow in disturbed soil so really not digging helps keep weeds at bay as well. Mother Nature dislikes bare soil and needs to fill it...hence weeds. This is why close planting is another method of weed control.

Try the No-Dig method in your own garden and save your back, feed the soil and watch your plants grow.